Creating a Strong Personal Brand to Stand Out from the Crowd

In this day and age competition is fierce across all industries so how do you make yourself stand out? I mean really stand out from the crowd, head, and shoulders above the sea of other small business owners? Well, there are a few things you can do rise above and make yourself noticed.

Credentials

Get as many as you can. For example, if you decide you would like to become a teacher, before applying for a local teaching job, obtain your TEFL Certificate as a backup specialized credential. It looks fantastic, is recognized worldwide, quick to get and I guarantee few other teachers would have it on their resume. Plus, it has the added bonus of freedom to teach English overseas so if you fall in love with Italy on your holiday, well, stay and teach, you now have that option to teach anywhere in the world.

No matter which industry you are working in or would like to get into, credentials go a long way to impressing your potential students or clients. But don’t worry, if you are breaking into a new market, there are other things you can do to help yourself stand out and succeed.

Vamp up your online presence

Your personal brand may be made through an extensive education with a lot of certificates and degrees. But for those that do not have this, don’t have the time to do it or would prefer to do something different, then you can stand out in other ways. Play to your strengths. If you spend a lot of time on social media then use it.

Build a brand – literally. Get on social media and create a Facebook page, a Twitter account, Instagram, build your own website or blog to get your points across of just post helpful tips. There are sites out there like Wix.com or WordPress that will allow you to build your own website or blog for free. It only takes a couple of hours and all of a sudden you have that little something extra that a lot of other applicants just won’t have.

Let’s stick with the teaching example: You are now Mr or Miss … the friendly, approachable teacher who cares, offers support and is there for not only the students but also the parents with helpful tips and ideas. Now, you bring something extra to the table and something every school director would love to have on their team. Not only do you stand out, you show admirable qualities highly sought after by doing something that you do every day anyway.

There are tons of articles out there to help you with one quick, easy read which only takes 5 minutes out of your day like 7 Things You Can Do to Build An Awesome Personal Brand from well researched, and respectable sites such as Forbes. So, let the professionals help you and in the amount of time it takes to drink a cup of coffee, you know what you need to do to start your own brand.

In this day and age, it is not only smart, it also helps you further down the track in your chosen career. Or alternatively, if you wanted to branch out in a few years and start your own company, freelance or build your own business online How Developing My Personal Brand Let Me Leave My Corporate Job helps you get ideas from other fellow entrepreneurs.

Think About What You’re Good At

Another thing to really think about is – what are you good at? Building on your strengths and adding them to your resume or personal bio helps your future customers really get a sense of who you are and what you bring to the table.

Still, with the teaching example, let’s say you love gardening. You may think this is unrelated, but you can use it. All of a sudden, you’re Mr or Mrs… the ‘green teacher’ who has extensive experience in all things green. It will also help with recycling organic matter at lunch and perhaps even reducing waste because they are less likely to throw a tomato away if they know it takes 3 months to grow.

No matter what your personal strengths are, what you have previous experience in or where your interests lay, include them. Incorporate them and offer that something special. It will get you noticed and help you stand out from the crowd.